Optical articles having light-blocking properties are known to protect the eyes from light, such as visible light and ultraviolet light. Such optical articles can have permanent light-blocking properties, such as in the case of tinted or colored lenses, or can have the ability to color change from “clear” to “dark” upon being exposed to an activation energy, such as actinic energy (photochromic), thermal energy (thermochromic), or electrical energy (electrochromic).
While the application of light-blocking compositions, such photochromic compositions, tints, and colorants, to optical articles is generally known, existing techniques have been limited in their ability to apply the light-blocking compositions to the optical articles in complex patterns and gradients. Additionally, existing techniques and optical articles that include light-blocking composition applied thereto are not optimized for ophthalmic lenses, thereby potentially resulting in inferior visibility and/or inferior perceived lens performance. Additionally, during the manufacturing of lenses that are formed from stock lens blanks, the entire surface of the lens blank is coated with the light-blocking composition. Thus, when the final lens shape is edged from the lens blank, an amount of the light-blocking composition on the removed portion of the lens blank is wasted. This is particularly costly when dealing with expensive light-blocking compositions, such as photochromic, thermochromic, or electrochromic compositions.
Other issues exist with light-blocking compositions that change color upon exposure to activation energy. For example, photochromic materials are sensitive to temperature. Typically, in lower temperatures photochromic materials turn darker than they would in warmer temperatures and have slower rise and decay rates.
Accordingly, there is a need for optical articles, and methods of producing the same, that address the aforementioned and other deficiencies.